by Jenna Aileen
“I didn’t say he was a stranger. I just said that he wasn’t my boyfriend.”
“Well if he’s not your boyfriend, then who is he?” Sawyer asked.
I heard Conan groan and I shot him a dirty look.
“I’m not in the mood to discuss my life with you guys.”
“Good, because we really don’t feel like hearing it. Your talking is slowing us down,” Conan said, still not turning to look at me. I glared at him.
“Actually, you know, it might help pass the time,” I responded, in a challenging voice.
“The more you talk, the slower the time passes,” Conan countered, looking me in the eyes. “And you talk a lot.”
“Excuse me? I do not talk a lot! I’ve hardly talked at all, despite all of the questions that have been running through my mind. Which, by the way—”
“I bet you couldn’t go three days without talking,” Conan interrupted.
“I—I most certainly could.”
“No, you couldn’t.”
“Yes, I can, and I’ll prove it.”
“Really? And how exactly are you going to do that?” Conan scoffed skeptically. I just stared back at him in reply. “Oh, I see. Are you honestly not going to talk for the next three days?” I nodded slowly, continuing to meet his cool gaze. “Alright then, that was easier than I thought.”
“What was easy?” Sawyer asked, tilting his head to the side.
“Reverse psychology. And due to the fact that she is extremely stubborn, she won’t give up on this even though she knows she just got outsmarted,” Conan answered smugly.
“It’s kind of like the quiet game,” Liam chuckled. “Except Kathryn is the only one playing.”
My jaw clenched, and I felt my face growing warm. He was right, the stupid wolf-man was right. I was angry at him for outsmarting me, but screaming at him wouldn’t really do anything but prove his point. Either way it was a lose-lose. *~*~*
It wasn’t hard at first, even with Sawyer and Liam constantly taunting me and trying to make me speak. However on day two of my little challenge, my throat started to ache from not speaking, and I wanted desperately to clear it, and stretch my mouth out a little.
The morning of day three, I awoke to find myself alone with Liam. My eyes scanned my surroundings until they finally met his and I gave him a questioning look.
“They went scouting and hunting. It’s just me and you now.”
“Oh good, I can speak,” I sighed, my voice sounding crackly.
“Guess you lost.”
“Only if you tell,” I said with a wink.
“And what would convince me not to tell them that you talked?”
“I dunno. It’s up to you, you figure it out,” I chuckled, unzipping one of the backpacks while Liam sat there with his eyebrows knit together, thinking hard. I rummaged through until found what I was looking for.
“I’m going to wash up. So I would appreciate some privacy. Please.”
He had a twinkle in his eyes when he nodded his head, so I wasn’t sure whether it was a yes or no.
That didn’t stop me though. I was dirty and wanted— needed— to wash off. We had been close to the river for some time now, but I wasn’t sure how much longer we’d be trailing alongside of it; I figured now would be a good a time as any to wash u. I didn’t really think that Liam could be trusted to stay away, but I’d take my chances.
The little river-brook-stream thingy was about twenty yards from where we had camped. It was starting to get cooler out, but I refused to continue on like this without at least rinsing myself off a little.
I stripped my sweatshirt and button-down off and scrubbed them with the soap, trying to get some of the mud stains out. As they hung on a branch to dry, I dunked my head in the water. The soap wasn’t the best substitute for shampoo and conditioner but it was better than nothing, considering the circumstances.
Goosebumps prickled on my skin as I scrubbed my body with the freezing water. I wrapped the hoodie Abel had given me around my waist before pulling my jeans off and scrubbing away all the mud and grass stains.
The water was cold, but it felt good on my sore feet. Something shiny caught my eye, as I looked down into the clear water. My knife! I must have kicked it in the water when I took my shoes off. I had completely forgotten about it.
I slipped it back into the pocket of my jeans before laying them on the rocks to dry. I sat down in the warm grass to dry off myself, enjoying the warm kiss of the UV rays.
“Oh, there you are,” Liam called casually. I jumped up and grabbed my jeans, pulling them on in record time.
“I told you to stay away!” I squealed, pulling my tank top back over my head.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist,” he chuckled.
I glared at him as he slowly looked me up and down. It wasn’t until I snapped my fingers right in his face, that his eyes met mine. His tall, muscular frame made me feel very small.
“Were you watching me the whole time?” I asked through gritted teeth, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t. Maybe I just happened to be taking a walk and just stumbled upon the exact spot where you were bathing.” His mouth twisted into a sly half smile, and his eyes darkened a bit.
“Mhm. Well, now that you’re here, maybe you could follow my example.” I shoved him with all my might and he lost his balance and fell into the cold creek with a splash. “Because you smell.”
His face showed complete shock right before he smirked and grabbed my arm, pulling me down next to him. “You missed a spot,” Liam said, splashing my face.
“So did you!” I growled, shoving his head under the water. Then—with as much dignity as I could muster I stood up and went back to sit on the rocky bank. So much for my clothes being almost dry. “It washed off, you’re good,” I said when he turned and gave me a look.
“You’ve got nice legs by the way,” he said with a wink, getting up to come sit beside me.
“Oh please, don’t start.” I sat down and rolled my eyes.
“What?”
“You’re being an idiot,” I said, scrunching up my nose. I knew it sounded dramatic and attention-whorish, but in all honestly, I had never considered myself pretty, or attractive in any way. And I always hated it whenever people complimented me, because of how awkward I felt.
“I’m not being an idiot, Kathryn. You’re really attractive, why else would Sawyer be drooling over you all the time?”
“That’s bull—”
“I’m being dead serious.”
“So am I.”
Liam rolled his eyes and mumbled something under his breath that I didn’t quite catch. We sat in silence for a few moments, before he finally spoke again.
“Hey, I figured out a way that will convince me not to tell Conan that you lost the quiet game,” he said mysteriously. The look of lust in his eyes indicated that whatever it was, I probably would not being doing it.
“If you’re asking for what I think you are, the answer is no,” I said cautiously, my cheeks burning.
“What were you thinking I was going to ask?”
“It doesn’t matter. What were you saying?”
“Kiss me.” He leaned in closer, his face barely an inch away from mine.
“What?”
“If you kiss me, I won’t tattle on you.”
“Just a kiss?”
“Unless you want more,” he said with a wink. I cleared my throat as I felt my face get hot. I forgot that werewolves had advanced hearing.
“That won’t be necessary. I don’t want to kiss you,” I mumbled, pulling back a little.
“Why? It’s just a kiss.”
“Yeah…and I’m not very good at it. Kissing, I mean.” I could feel my face growing red.
“Well then, allow me to show you how it’s done.” Before I could stop him, Liam’s mouth was on mine and we were kissing. Quite passionately. He seemed in no hurry to stop, and I was too surprised to react right away. Once
he started to push me down and tried to climb on top of me, I started to freak out and shoved him away.
“What the hell! That was way more than just one kiss, Liam!” I breathed, sitting up and wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. He just shrugged, his soft lips twisting into a smirk.
“You’re a natural, sweetheart.. Anytime you wanna practice, just let me know.” He winked.
“I’m good, thanks,” I grumbled, standing up to go back to our camp.
We waited in silence or the others to return. They came back in the early afternoon and the first thing Conan asked Liam was—
“So, did she talk?”
Liam gave me a sly look, before turning to Conan and saying, “Nah. But we found another way to keep our mouths occupied. Didn’t we, Kathyrn?” He winked at me and all I wanted was to crawl in a hole and die. Sawyer and Valko laughed their heads off, and Conan just rolled his eyes.
“Sounds like your time alone with her was more eventful than mine was,” Valko said, winking at me. “Well, at least when it comes to—”
“Come on, we need to keep moving,” Conan cut him off, tossing a backpack at him.
Chapter Fourteen, Conan
“So, how exactly did you manage to get her to kiss you?” “Sawyer shut up, you’re going to wake her up.” I glanced over at Kathryn’s sleeping form. She sighed softly every so often, and that’s how I knew she was truly asleep.
“How did you get her to kiss you?” Sawyer asked Liam, a little more quietly.
“It was totally easy, she was practically begging me to kiss her, and so I did,” Liam replied a little too loudly.
“That is complete bull—” Kathryn said groggily, sitting up to look at us. “You kissed me and I shoved you away.” She grunted, and laid back down while we all chuckled to ourselves. Liam just scowled and denied it.
“I told you that she was going to wake up,” I reminded him, shrugging He just growled as Kathryn turned to smirk at him. She rolled around a bit before finally going still. Her breathing slipped back into its slow and even pace, indicating that she had fallen back asleep.
“I don’t blame her for sleeping with her eyes and ears open. I’d do the same if I were in her shoes…especially if someone as ugly as Sawyer kidnapped me,” Liam said, clearly trying to draw attention away from himself.
“Hey!”
“Both of you just shut up and get some sleep. We’ve got an early day tomorrow.”
*~*~*
We were able to pick up our pace and were making better time than I thought we’d be, but we were also blowing through the food and water supplies. Hunting was always an option, but it would start slowing us down if we stopped as often as we needed to, since the meat wouldn’t stay good for long. Plus, leaving behind a trail of animal carcasses wasn’t ideal.
“Valko, how about you take Sawyer and Liam to go get us some supplies. We can’t afford to take another day off, so Kathryn and I will keep walking. You can catch up later,” I told Valko early the next morning.
“Sounds good, I’ll wake the others.”
“I’m up, I’m up!” Kathryn exclaimed when Valko shook her shoulder. “I don’t want to be up.” She covered her eyes with her arms and whimpered, lying back down.
“Sorry to disappoint you,” I said, pulling her to her feet.
“It’s so cold out,” she groaned, throwing her backpack over her shoulder.
“You’ll warm up once we start walking. Give your backpack to Valko—he’s taking Liam and Sawyer to get more supplies.”
“So it’s just me and you?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Oh joy,” she remarked flatly.
“It’s not like we have to talk or anything. Now come on, let’s go.” I started walking, and she let out a heavy sigh but followed closely behind.
*~*~*
A few hours into the morning, she finally spoke. “It feels so good not to have to carry that backpack.” It was the first time she'd said anything since we started, and I hoped it would be that last.
“Well enjoy it now, it’s going to feel twice as heavy when they get back.”
“Thank you, Mr. Optimistic,” Kathryn said sarcastically. “Conan?” she asked after a few moments.
“Hmm?” I tried to grunt as unenthusiastically as possible, hoping to discourage any further conversation. But unfortunately I had no such luck.
“Do you miss your old life at all?
“What do you mean?”
“Like the life before you became a werewolf?”
“The past is behind me and I would like to leave it there,” I snapped instead.
“How old were you when you became a werewolf?”
“Twenty-four. Now keep, walking.”
“What did you do for a living?” She asked, picking up her pace so she could walk beside me.
“Is this really that important?”
“Were you married?”
“Why are you so curious all of the sudden? Please can we just have some peace and quiet?” I finally snapped, turning around to give her an annoyed look.
“Gosh, you don’t have to be nasty; I’m just trying to make conversation.”
“Okay, then how about we talk about you? Have you, you ever been married? Do you have kids? Oh that’s right, you’ve only ever been kissed once by that idiot that couldn’t even save you. Pathetic.”
“How dare you?” she growled, throwing a punch at me. I dodged and gave her the most disdainful look that I could. “If you were a real man, you wouldn’t attack and kidnap poor, defenseless girls walking on the road in the middle of the night!”
“But I’m not a man, am I? I’m a werewolf. And poor, defenseless girls shouldn’t be walking on the road in the middle of the night,” I retorted. “Although, you have never struck me as intelligent.”
There was a flash of pain in her eyes, but she continued. “What exactly was a band of four werewolves doing on the road in the middle of the night? You never answered that question, Mr. Wolfman.”
“And I don’t plan to, Miss McLeod.”
“That’s the other thing, how do you know my name? You’ve known my name since the night you took me. And I didn’t even tell you who I was.”
Oh shit. “I heard your boyfriend call you that when we were taking you. I assumed that was your name.”
“Abel never said my last name. How do you know my last name? Were you…stalking me?”
“Why would I stalk you?” I tried to laugh it off but she was clearly connecting all the dots.
“Wait a minute…wait a minute! YOU! That was you at the mall! You were stalking me? You were stalking me! You spilled your soda all over me! That was you!”
“Yes, it was me! Okay? Yes I was stalking you.”
“But why?! Why? This makes absolutely no sense! Why me, Conan?”
“I’m not telling you anything. You’d better pick up your pace, we’re burning daylight.”
“Freaking-stalking-stupid-wolf-man. I hate you. I hate all of you,” she shouted, shoving me.
“Don’t do that.” I warned in a low voice, grabbing her arm roughly.
“What are you gonna do about it?” She punched my shoulder and shoved me again. I growled, having a very hard time keeping my wolf at bay. He wanted so badly to show this girl who was boss. It was hard staying in control, but I knew if I let him take over, this would not end well.
Kathryn lunged at me, and I let myself fall to the ground. I took a deep breath and calmed myself down before she started pounding on my chest with her fists. She had no idea what I was capable of. I could snap her neck and have her lying dead on the ground in a split second, but I didn’t. Instead, I flipped her over and pinned her shoulders down.
After a moment of her squirming, I decided to let her attack me. It wasn’t like she could do any real damage.
I rolled off of her and she tried to pin my shoulders down. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her pathetic effort. I found it somewhat humorous that she was so blinded
by her anger, she could hardly put any strength into her punches.
We wrestled around a bit and when I had finally had enough, I pinned her to the ground.
“Get off me!” she cried, anger and pain evident in her voice.
“Are we interrupting something?” We both looked up and there stood Valko, Liam, and Sawyer.
“No…I think we’re quite through.” I stood and brushed the leaves off my pants.
“Look, if you guys wanted time alone for this, you could have just asked,” Sawyer laughed.
“That’s not what we were doing, you stupid pervert.” Kathryn’s face was bright red.
“I call dibs on staying back with her next time.”
“Shut up, Sawyer.” She hastily wiped the tears off her cheeks with the sleeve of her sweatshirt and grabbed a backpack off of the ground, avoiding eye contact with all of us. The boys and I grabbed our backpacks and started walking again.
Kathryn ignored all of us the rest of the day. I could sense her pain and couldn’t help but feel a small twinge of guilt for causing her to be this upset. I had to give her credit for trying to fight me like that. She had to know that there was no way to even hurt me, but that didn’t stop her. She had guts. Not the best judgment, but she wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself. I wondered what had brought on all of the questions about my past. I didn’t even discuss that with any of the guys, let alone the little werewolf hunter’s daughter that we had kidnapped.
Kathryn laid out her sleeping bag right after dinner that night. We all pretended not to hear her sniffles or muffled sobs. After a while, her breathing slowed and her whimpers turned to exhausted sighs. That’s how we knew she was really asleep.
“How far did you have to go to get the supplies?” I asked Valko.
“Twenty or so miles. We ran though, so it didn’t take us that long.” Valko had one of those looks I-need-to-tell-yousomething looks, so I grabbed him and pulled him away from Kathryn and the others.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, forcing him to look me in the eye. He sighed.
“It seems there’s a pack of rogues roaming around this area. We all smelled them on our way there, and their scent was even stronger when we were returning.”